One of the biggest concerns for eBike owners is the cost of charging their batteries. Are you really saving money on gas if you have to plug your batteries in and potentially run up your electric bill? In this article, we’ll take a quantitative look at the approximate cost of charging eBike batteries in Quebec, and in Ontario factoring in different charger amperage. All costs in this article are in CAD$.
How much does it cost to charge an ebike in Quebec?
First, we must know the average electricity price in the province. The average cost of electricity in Québec is $0.073 per kWh.
Second, we must know the battery capacity (Wh).
How to calculate the cost of recharging an electric bike battery?
For example, if you have an electric bicycle Gazelle Medeo T9 City. This ebike has a 400 Wh battery.
Here is the calculation
(average cost per kWh / 1000) x (battery capacity)
(0.073 $ / 1000 Wh) x (400 Wh) = 0.029$
In Quebec, the cost is only 0.03 $, for a 400 Wh battery.
How much does it cost to charge an electric bike in Ontario?
The average cost of electricity in Ontario is $0.130 per kWh.
(average cost per kWh / 1000) x (battery capacity)
(0.130 $ / 1000 Wh) x (400 Wh) = 0.052$
In Ontario, the cost is only 0.05 $, for a 400 Wh battery.
The cost of the electricity will increase only if the battery is bigger, meaning it has more Watt-hours. Here is a table with different battery sizes and prices:
| Battery size (Wh) | $ (Quebec) | $ (Ontario) |
| 400 | 0.03 | 0.05 |
| 500 | 0.04 | 0.07 |
| 625 | 0.05 | 0.08 |
| 750 | 0.05 | 0.10 |
| 1000 | 0.07 | 0.13 |
| 1250 | 0.09 | 0.16 |
| 2500 | 0.18 | 0.33 |
Note: The table above shows the price using the average cost of electricity, the cost varies depending on the time of the day where in high demand period it increases and on low demand decreases.
Which e-bike charger to choose?
Charging the battery with a 2A or a 4A charger will not affect the cost since the total amount of electricity induced in the battery will be the same at the end, and also they use the same 110v electric socket so there are no other fees for using a larger voltage source of electricity.
How long it will take to charge a battery?
The time to charge a battery will depend on its size, voltage and the charger capacity.
In Theory, for a 400 Wh battery, 36 V, with a 2A charger, the charging time will be:
Time = (Battery size in Wh) / ((battery voltage in V) x (Charger capacity in A)
= (400 Wh ) / (36V x 2A) = 5.55 h
Time = 5 hours and 30 min.
Same battery with a 4A charger, time will be:
Time = (Battery size in Wh) / ((battery voltage in V) x (Charger capacity in A)
= (400 Wh ) / (36V x 4A) = 2.77 h
Time = 2 hours and 45 min.
Note: The battery will take longer to charge than the theoretical values above because when the charge reaches 80%, the charging procedure slows down in order to balance the charge of each cell inside the battery.
Conclusion
When charging your eBike battery, it’s important to consider not only the cost of electricity but also the charger amperage. Using a higher amperage charger will decrease the charging time the battery. However, always consult the manual or the specifications of your eBike and charger before using a higher amperage charger, as doing so with an incompatible equipment can cause damage to the battery or the charger.
Overall, with eBike batteries becoming more efficient and with the cost of electricity in Quebec and Ontario being relatively low, the cost of charging an eBike battery should not be a major concern for most people, especially if you are using a high-amp charger.
Source:
https://www.energyhub.org/electricity-prices/#:~:text=by%20Maritime%20Electric.-,Qu%C3%A9bec,were%20used%20for%20our%20calculations
